time. tonight federal authorities are warning airlines that terrorists might have explosives surgically implanted in their bodies. this is apparently just an idea that the terrorists are talking about. federal officials told us today they have not uncovered an actual plot. but the notion creates problems for airport security. and we asked nancy cordes to tell us about the possibilities. >> reporter: the devices the t.s.a. warned of today would be tough even for full body scanners to spot. plastic explosives buried deep inside the body. john pistol heads the t.s.a.. >> the u.s. government has received information, intelligence about terrorist intent to use this type of concealment and this technique to try to carry out plots to blow up planes. >> reporter: a law enforcement source tells cbs news al qaeda operatives in yemen recently expressed interest in recruiting a surge onto implant the explosives.

on this jihadist website, a man claiming to be a surgeon described the appeal last year. through surgery i could place the bomb device inside the body of the suicide bomber, without the need of suicide vests. isn't this way beth than all the other options? the tactic has never been used successfully, and cbs national security analyst says terrorist bomb makers are far from perfecting it. >> there are numerous technical problems to try to make an effective explosive device operate inside a human body, especially one that has to incube it a for some time and then explode. certainly the body itself will act as a bit of a cushion to the effect of the explosive. >> reporter: that's just what happened in october of 2009, when a suicide bomber in saudi arabia made it through two airport security checkpoints with a device strapped between his buttocks. when the bomb detonated he was killed, but his target, a top

saudi counterterrorism official, was barely harmed. still al qaeda's newest approach shows how desperate the organization is to place a bomb on a plane, after two previous plots failed. the first involved underwear bomber mutalab in december of 2009. the second and more sophisticated attempt involved bombs embedded in printer cartridges shipped on cargo planes last fall. the t.s.a. says air travelers, particularly those headed from abroad to the u.s., can expect more random searches and patdowns in light of these most recent warnings. >> pelley: nancy, you mentioned that a body bomb would be difficult for detectors. but how difficult would it be? >> reporter: well, scott, what security experts told us today is that these body scanners would be very hit and miss when it comes to a device planted inside the body. and they point out that when it comes to european airports

in effect, airports all across the world, most of them don't have these body scanners, they simply have metal detectors, which would be even less likely to pick up the devices, particularly if they were made of plastic. >> pelley: thanks, nancy. we have breaking news tonight. cbs news has learned that the united states has killed a top al qaeda commander. kashmiri was blooeed to be a key manner of the hotel massacre in mumbai, and was suspected of plotting attacks against u.s. troops in achg. two sources tell us that he was killed last month in pakistan by a u.s. drone. one official said to us today, "we know we got him this time." at the white house today, the president said he will begin sending condolence letters to families of troops who commit suicide in a war zone. troops who die in combat have always received this honor. but for generations, suicide victims have not been acknowledged by the president.

the white house has been reviewing this policy, but mr. obama took action one week after elaine quijano first reported this story on our broadcast. elaine? >> reporter: well, scott, the president says he made the change to the condolence letter policy to remove the stigma associated with one of the unseen wounds of war, suicide. in a written statement, the president said, "this issue is emotional, painful and complicated. but these americans served our nation bravely, they didn't die because they were weak, and the fact that they didn't get the help they needed must change." the group iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, which has been advocating for more mental health programs for veterans, called the president's action long overdue. >> while we think this is a positive first step, i think a lot more needs to be done, that the white house really needs to redouble its resolve to addressing this suicide epidemic head on.

>> would not try to seek honor, nor was he being a coward. >> reporter: if anyone can be credited with changing the policy it's greg and janet keesling, they have been fighting for the change since 2009. that's the year their son, 25-year-old army specialist chance keesling, killed himself on his second tour in iraq. they say acknowledgement from the president gives them some comfort. >> he was a good soldier. so i think that's the part that i want to know that the country appreciates, that he fought, he did everything he was asked to do. >> reporter: but there are still military families who will not be receiving condolence letters. the policy change does not include suicide or training accidents here in the united states. >> pelley: thanks, elaine. president obama will be meeting at the white house tomorrow with top congressional leaders still trying to break that impasse on raising the national borrowing limit as the d-day for default grows ever closer.

here's chief white house correspondent chip reid. >> reporter: taking questions from the twitter social network, president obama lashed out at republicans for refusing to compromise on taxes, as part of a deal on the national debt. >> the debt ceiling should not be something that is used as a gun against the heads of the american people to extract tax breaks for corporate jet owners. >> reporter: but in fact there are signs republicans may be moving toward compromise by closing some tax loopholes. today house republican leader eric cantor told reporters if the president wants to talk loopholes, we'll be glad to talk loopholes. he added that eliminating corporate tax breaks should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else. democratic sources familiar with the negotiations say president obama called all four top congressional leaders yesterday and made the case for doing a debt deal even bigger than the $2 trillion in spending cuts they've been

focused on. those sources say the deal the president now favors would be as close as possible to $4 trillion. it would require republicans to raise taxes and cut defense spending, and democrats would have to agree to deep cuts in medicare and medicaid. but the sources say the president believes it would get enough votes to pass, because supporters could argue that it puts the nation on a sound financial footing. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell today said he hasn't given up hope. >> the president said he prefers a big package, we all do. and i hope that there will be some kind of breakthrough tomorrow. >> reporter: scott, the president said today if they don't get a deal in the next couple of weeks, interest rates could soar, the nation's credit could be downgraded, and the economy could spiral into a second recession, or worse. >> pelley: chip, thank you. by far, the most awe inspiring pictures we've seen this week came from phoenix, arizona, where a cloud of dust seemed to swallow up the entire city

last evening. flights were grounded, drivers couldn't see more than a few feet in front of their cars. folks who live in phoenix are calling it the mother of all dust storms. we've been hit by a lot of violent weather this year, and we asked ben tracy to look into why. >> reporter: this is a legitimate haboob, or dust storm. >> reporter: the giant wall of dust that swept into phoenix was bigger than most, a mile high and packing at least 60 mile per hour winds. >> we thought it was a cloud. then we got into it and it was just black. >> reporter: the dust began to gather near tucson where it hasn't rained in three months. but the time it hit phoenix, it dwarfed the city. larger than anything seen in 100 years. the dust storm is the latest freak weather phenomenon in a string of strange weather events. drought in the southwest has fueled wildfires in three states, but in the western mountains there was so much moisture this winter the snow is still there. a lingering snow pack that hasn't been seen for 15 years.

that snow and record rains here in california were caused in large part by la nina, cooler water temperatures in the pacific that change weather patterns. that helps end california's three-year drought. but la nina was followed this spring by a stronger than normal jet stream pattern, creating winds that collided with warm water from the gulf of mexico, causing severe storms across the southern u.s.. that led to all those tornados and record flooding. meteorologist jan null studies weather patterns. >> any time the atmosphere stays in the same place for an extended period of time, then you're usually going to start seeing some unusual weather events. >> reporter: and the weather may seem worse than normal because many of the storms have hit heavily populated areas. chicago, buried in record snowfall, tennessee flooded, large parts of joplin, missouri destroyed. >> those the damage in urban areas, not only bumps up the dollar figure but also the fatalities and that makes it something that is note worthy. >> reporter: in fact in an

average year, weather related damage would total about $6 billion at this point. in 2011, we've already hit $32 billion. the most expensive since they began tracking it 30 years ago. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> pelley: we were talking in the newsroom about the weather today and we noticed this from the national oceanic and atmosphereic administration. so far this year there have been eight weather disasters in the u.s., blizzards, tornados, floods, wildfires, that did at least $1 billion damage each. and hurricane season is just beginning. as the space shuttle program comes to an end, america's astronauts are looking at a whole new world. it's opening day for baseball's roger clemens, on trial for perjury with an all-star roster of potential witnesses. and we'll hear from a man who describes whitey bulger as a mentor and a rat, when the cbs evening news continues. copd makes it hard to breathe,

so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function.

get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein.

[ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil. go to takeadvil.com. sometimes life can be, well, a little uncomfortable, but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go... it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable. >> pelley: whitey bulger made his first public statement today since he was arrested after 16 years on the lam. he said not guilty to 19 counts of murder, as he was arraigned in federal court in boston. bulger is something of a mystery, so we asked jim axelrod to give us some insight into the mind of a

mobster. >> reporter: some guesses about what whitey bulger is thinking now are more educated than others. like michael sullivan. >> at this point in time he's thinking about how he can make life as easy as possible for himself. >> reporter: the former u.s. attorney in boston, sullivan says bulger may actually believe he's going to beat this too. >> essentially was a one-person crime wave in the stiff woes for decades -- the city of boston for decades. he suffered little or no consequences as a result of it so in the back of his mind he's probably believing that at some point in time he'll be able to escape the consequences here as well. >> i'm extremely angry at whitey. >> reporter: john shea is acquainted with bulger's thinking of is he going to sing now? >> sing now, the guy's been singing for over 30 years. >> reporter: shea should know. bulger gave him up when shea was running drugs for him in the 1980's. shea did 12 years in prison. he says bulger will say anything to create leverage for himself. >> he's a fraud.

he's a rat, and king rat at that. he's a pretty monstrous guy. >> reporter: journalist dick lehr agrees with shea. his book, black mass, details the deals bulger made where the f.b.i. to save his skin, and says any trial could give bulger more of what he wants, the spotlight. since it's all he's got left. >> with a guy like him, he may say some things that he's just toying with everyone, he may be concocting things. >> reporter: because in the eyes of many he's a sin ter manipulator. listen to shea, whom bulger sent to prison. >> because i never had a father. at times he was a father figure. and that's the sad part that i feel. >> reporter: but of all the feelings about bulger and boston now, sadness may be the least common. jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> pelley: other than not guilty, neither bulger nor his

lawyers have commented on the charges. there is a new twist tonight in that phone hacking scandal involving a british tabloid newspaper. the news of the world may have hacked into messages left for relatives of victims of the london terror attacks of 2005. yesterday the tabloid admitted hacking into the messages of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to get more details about her case. former pitching ace roger clemens goes on trial for what he said on the hill. capitol hill. that story is next. imagine a day free of worry, a day when we can eat what we want, drink what we want, and sleep soundly through the night. finally that day has arrived with prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn-free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn all day, all night. now we are free. happy.

with prevacid®24hr, happiness is a day without heartburn.

we look out for patients by offering care 1 on 1. we help them save money with generic prescriptions. we talk to them about prescription safety and -- help them save money. plus we discuss possible side effects and -- help them save money! we help them save money. get care 1 on 1 and talk savings, safety, and side effects when you transfer or fill a new ongoing prescription. i'm carla, and this is my cvs. and his, too.

>> pelley: jury selection began today in the perjury trial of former baseball great roger clemens. he's accused of lying to congress when he denied using performance enhancing drugs. wyatt andrews tells us that clemens, once a shoe-in for the hall of fame, could face up to 21 months in prison if convicted. >> reporter: he threw with such power, they called him the rocket. he was so competitive he once threw a broken bat at the batter. but in court the fearsome roger clemens is in the contest of his life. he faces six different charges that he lied to congress by denying accusations of using steroids. >> let me be clear. i have never taken steroids or hgh. >> reporter: hgh, meaning human growth hormone. at that same table was the chief witness against him, brian mcnamee who for years served as clemens' strength coach, told congress he gave

clemens at least 12 steroid shots over three seasons. >> i injected those drugs into the body of roger clemens at his direction. >> it never happened. never happened. >> reporter: in an interview with mike wallace of "60 minutes", clemens said those injections were vitamin b 12, not steroids. >> if what he's saying, which is totally false, if he's doing that to me i should have a third ear coming out of my forehead and pulling tractors with my teeth. >> reporter: the clash between clemens and mcthat knee won't be the trial's only drama. an all-star roster of former players could be called both for and against clemens. but the most damaging witness could be clemens' close friend and former teammate andy pettitte who said clemens once admitted to him he used hgh. david epstein calls pettitte's story believable. >> why would he want to lie bit. it gives him the credibility of someone who can have those conversations on that level with roger clemens.

>> reporter: it will take several more days to select a jury, but the question for that jury is already clear. between the pitcher trying to protect his legacy and the drug supplier telling a story, which one is lying? wyatt andrews, cbs news, washington. >> pelley: we have more tonight about the discovery of 22 billion in gold and jewels that were hidden in vaults beneath a hindu temple in india. today we learned there is one more vault that may contain even more treasure. but the people in charge of the temple say that there's a picture of a cobra on the door which means the vault may be cursed. with the shuttle program ending, the next thing some astronauts may be exploring is job opportunities. that story is next. tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain

so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides.

get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪ happened to come across quicken loans online. [ chris ] quicken loans constantly kept us updated and got us through the process twice now. quicken loans is definitely engineered to amaze. they were just really there for us.

[ pneumatic wrench buzzing ] [ slap! slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums >> pelley: imagine preparing for a job that is extremely specialized. you get the job and then it goes away. america's astronauts don't have to imagine it. they're living it. as we approach the final shuttle launch, mark strassman reports, some astronauts are counting down to the end of their careers. >> this is michael fincke. >> reporter: he has just lived any astronaut's dream. riding on the shuttle last month to the space station. >> oh, boy, if you can steal 7

million pounds thrust, can you feel it in your bones, the magesty of the launch of the space shuttle. >> reporter: for nasa astronauts that comes with a new reality. from the mercury and apollo glory days, when astronauts became instant american heros, nasa grew to 149 shuttle astronauts a decade ago. only 61 of them remain. as the shuttle fleet heads for retirement. >> there's a lot of soul searching happening in our office in the astronaut core. it's a little intimidating, especially for a lot of us who only had one dream and now all of a sudden things are changing. >> reporter: like him, this astronaut is sticking around and with good reason. in 2013 he's heading to the space station. but when he launches, he'll have to ride with the russians. >> as an astronaut it very disappointing not to have a vehicle that can carry more folks into orbit. i think we're in for a big challenge. the next five years can go either way. >> reporter: what is clear, american astronauts will fly a

lot less. at most about three or four americans will squeeze into one of these russian soyuz spacecrafts for the two-day ride to the space station. on the soyuz, americans likely will be passengers. nasa needs fewer astronauts, especially pilots. what is it like to tell somebody you're not going to fly again? >> it's not a pleasant part of the job, no. >> reporter: peggy whitson is chief of sna a's astronaut office. her job description these days involves many hard conversations. >> our focus has changed for what we want specifically in an astronaut. 15 years ago we could have specialists in this and this and this, and now i need a generalist that's good at everything. >> reporter: whitson has not had to layoff anyone. but since last year, 10 more astronauts have been transferred to nonflying roles, retired or moved on. >> we're going to need to -- >> reporter: garrett is one of them, four months ago he left houston for los angeles and space x, a private company

hoping to build nasa's next vehicle to the space station. >> transitions are always painful, and i'm trying not to use the word bittersweet, but it's not every day that you get to design a spaceship, you know. >> reporter: as an astronaut reisman had two space missions and three space walks. but he now sees better opportunities outside of nasa. >> it was a really tough decision because i'm not going to lie to you, being an astronaut was like the coolest job ever. if you ever had a dream where you put your arms out and fly, it's like that every day, and that never ever got boring. >> reporter: despite all the unknowns, this generation of astronauts still dares to dream of flights. mark strassman, cbs news, houston. >> pelley: that's the cbs evening news. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night.

beth! hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed!

you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. not going back there again. good for you! how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't... multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories per serving... more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios. this is "entertainment tonight," the most-watched entertainment news magazine in the world. >> will casey anthony be set free tomorrow? >> the prosecution did not do a great job. >> casey's stunning next move, and the death threats. >> she will have to worry. for a very long time about her safety. she can go ahead and tell her story. >> who would play her if she cashed in in hollywood. >> and from the menendez brothers to rob lowe playing drew p